Monday, April 14, 2014

Russian Aircraft Buzzes USS Cook in Black Sea 12 Times

"The Donald Cook is more than capable of defending itself against two Su-24s," Colonel Warren

That statement is probably the understatement of the year. Does President Putin think this saber rattling is going to influence the US into giving in? If he does, then he must be watching Fox News and listening to the Republicans in Congress who keep dissing President Obama over Ukraine and siding with the Russians time and time again which makes no sense. What do the Koch Bros have to gain with the GOP siding in many cases with the Russians? Becoming more obvious by the day that the Koch Bros are pulling the puppet strings of the GOP who are doing their bidding.

Then you have former AR Governor Mike Huckabee talking about North Korea is more free then US which is mind boggling. Offered today to set up a PAC to help him move, willing to help pack him up, and even throw in some boxes from previous moves. The man is a lunatic. From the Daily Mail United Kingdom:

Fox News personality and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee stunned a New Hampshire crowd on Saturday by likening the federal government's treatment of airport passengers to the totalitarian regime of Kim Jong-un.

'My gosh, I'm beginning to think that there's more freedom in North Korea sometimes than there is in the United States,' he told a partisan crowd at the inaugural New Hampshire Freedom Summit.

'When I go to the airport, I have to get into the surrender position, people put hands all over me, and I have to provide photo ID in a couple of different forms to prove that I'm not going to terrorize the airplane,' he deadpanned.

In a speech filled with jokes, Huckabee seemed deadly serious.

Would Huckabee rather have no security and let terrorists fly on our planes. Guess he figures N. Korea has no security for their flights. Is the man even sane to make the comparison? Yet he is running for the Presidential nomination as a Republican.

When I received this email from American Forces News Service which covers the Pentagon, I wasn't really shocked. Been waiting for something like this to happen. Does Putin know how stupid Russia looks buzzing a guided missile destroyer of the US. Bet the Russians are the butt of some jokes on the destroyer. Has Putin totally lost it because it is hard to see what Russia can gain from this:

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2014 - A Russian attack aircraft repeatedly flew near the USS Donald Cook in international waters in the Black Sea on April 12, a Pentagon spokesman said today.

USS

Donald Cook is the first of four Arleigh Burke-class

guided-missile destroyers to be stationed in Rota.

The USS Cook was patrolling in the western Black Sea when an unarmed Russian Su-24 Fencer attack aircraft repeatedly flew near the Navy ship, Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters.

"The aircraft did not respond to multiple queries and warnings from Donald Cook, and the event ended without incident after approximately 90 minutes," Warren said. "This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries."

Two Russian aircraft were present, but only one took part in the provocative actions, Warren said. The aircraft flew from near sea level to a couple of thousand feet, he added, but never overflew the U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer."

The Russian plane made a total of 12 passes," he said.

The wingman stayed at a considerably higher altitude, Warren said.

Officials later said the aircraft approached within about 1,000 yards of the ship. The USS Cook was never in danger, Warren said.

"The Donald Cook is more than capable of defending itself against two Su-24s," the colonel said.

Warren said he does not think this is an example of a young pilot joyriding. "I would have difficulty believing that two Russian pilots, on their own, would chose to take such an action," he said. "We've seen the Russians conduct themselves unprofessionally and in violation of international norms in Ukraine for several months, and these continued acts of provocation and unprofessionalism do nothing to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, which we called on the Russians to do."

The Cook arrived in the Black Sea on April 10. The ship is now making a port call in Constanta, Romania.

We have all this going on and our illustrious Congress is not in town -- time for another vacation when they just came back from a week off. Yet Rep Moran (D-VA) thinks they are underpaid in comparison to CEO's. Think they are overpaid for time worked.

Previous Meeting Friday, Apr 11, 2014 The Senate convened at 4:00 p.m. and adjourned at 4:14 p.m. No record votes were taken.

We have the Russians who invaded Crimea in the Ukraine, hold a phony referendum, take back Crimea, and Republicans are either siding with the Russians or calling the President weak in his policy. Here are some headlines:

Agreeing to IMF reforms would have helped him. So now Republicans’ mission to weaken the president is spilling over into foreign policy, too.You know those people who carry on all the time about how the United States looks weak to the world, and how we have to do everything we possibly can to help poor Ukraine stand up to the evil Vladimir Putin? Well, guess what they just did? They just made the United States look weak to the world—and they actually just reduced (yes, reduced) the amount of global aid that can flow to Ukraine to help it stand up to the evil Vladimir Putin.

And so it happens that the people who caterwaul about America being weak in the world become the very people who make it weaker. What does the world think as it watches this? Maybe some think merely that Obama is weak. But I’d wager most don’t. I’d wager most Europeans and others reach the right and reasonable conclusion: That American partisan dysfunction, driven far more by Republicans than by Democrats, now weakens not just our ability to carry out domestic politics but our foreign-policy aims as well.

The more the Republicans ran to the microphones and Sunday shows, you realized that they had the same narrative -- some went as far as to defend what Putin had done and side with Russia which they had been doing since last fall.

Therefore, when Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, many on the right rallied around the former KGB agent and asked that Obama follow Putin’s lead. In his column, Putin asked that the United States respect the United Nations and follow the advice of the Security Council (which Russia is a part of) and practice caution on any action related to Syria. Putin also stated that peaceful dialogue and diplomacy should be utilized first and foremost and that military action should only occur with a consensus of other nations.

At that time, you had members of the right-wing in this country go ga-ga over Putin. Pundits like Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, Erick Erickson and Sean Hannity were praising the Russian President for his stance. Other Republicans like Pat Buchanan and Ralph Peters claimed that Putin was providing the type of leadership that the US apparently lacked at that moment. Basically, if you tuned into Fox News or talk radio during that time, you got a whole lot of Putin hero-worshiping.

What we have is a Republican Party who would rather weaken President Obama then do the right thing not only domestically but in our foreign policy but yet want re-elected. Time to tell the Republican candidates for the most part to take it and shove. Let them find out what the unemployment line is like except they probably will become lobbyist and make more money. What the Republican Party has done by selling out this Country to wealthy donors like the Kochs and Adelson should be crime especially now that it has gone over into foreign policy.

Never could figure out the love affair that some conservatives had with Putin except he is white and Obama is black. These people supported a former? KGB agent like he was a hero which shocked me at the time. Frankly it still does and Huckabee is carrying on tradition bragging about North Korea and yet some of these people want to be President -- give me a break.